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Abstract

Introduction: Depression screening may not be feasible for all stroke patients during their hospitalization, and depression may be missed if screening is not performed in the outpatient setting.

Hypothesis: We sought to assess the proportion of patients with depression, and describe the severity of depressive symptoms in patients who could not be screened during hospitalization. We hypothesized that depressive symptoms can be missed in those who are not screened.

Methods: Ischemic strokes (July 2014- July 2015) were identified from the clinic registry. In the clinic, we use Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) to assess depressive symptoms for all patients. Univariate and multivariable linear regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between PHQ-9 and age, sex, race, baseline National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and antidepressant use for patients who missed inpatient depression screening.

Conclusions: Patients who cannot be screened for depression during hospitalization may have depressive symptoms and should be screened as soon as feasible after discharge. Alternative methods to screen cognitively impaired patients need to be developed.